Celtic have been drawn against Astana in the Champions League play-off round.

Brendan Rodgers ' side have come through two rounds of qualifiers against Linfield and Rosenborg, but they must now see off the challenge of the Kazakh champions to mark their return to the group stages.

The two sides met in the third qualifying round of the Champions League last season, when Celtic came out on top with a 3-2 aggregate win over two legs.

The first leg will be played in Glasgow on August 15/16 before the return in Kazakhstan on August 22/23.

Celtic were seeded for the draw in the champions route, meaning they were able to avoid the likes of Olympiacos, FC Copenhagen and Maribor.

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After the draw in Nyon on Friday Jurgen Klopp’s side, who have enjoyed an impressive pre-season, winning six of their seven games, will have to overcome Bundesliga side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.

The tie means a return to Germany for Klopp and Brazil striker Roberto Firmino, who arrived at Anfield from Hoffenheim in a £29million deal two years ago.

Liverpool last competed in the Champions League during the 2014/15 season but were eliminated at the group stage after finishing behind Real Madrid and Basel.

The Reds qualified for this season’s third round play-off stage by finishing fourth in the Premier League last term, a point ahead of Arsenal who missed out on a place in Europe’s elite club competition for the first time in 20 years.

The ten play-off winners will join 22 automatic group stage entrants ahead of the group draw on Thursday, August 24, while losing teams at this stage will drop into the Europa League group stage.